By 3 News online staff
He’s New Zealand’s most experienced road cyclist and he’s not happy.
Julian Dean – along with Hayden Roulston - missed selection for the London 2012 Olympics with Bike NZ instead opting for Greg Henderson and Jack Bauer.
Dean has been in a race against time to be ready for the event after a leg break in March during the Tour of Catalunya, but he believes he would have been ready and has subsequently slammed Bike NZ’s road race criteria.
Despite Dean being entered in the Tour of Poland in two weeks time – a race many other Olympic athletes will compete in – Bike NZ overlooked him, announcing that riders entered in the Tour de France, such as Henderson, will have an advantage over those who are not.
"I understand Bike NZ's point of view in not selecting me, but I do struggle with the selection criteria they used. For example, going to the Tour de France," Dean was reported as saying.
"A lot of the other favourites for the Olympics aren't riding the tour and I can guarantee you that all of the Olympic contenders at the tour will only be riding two weeks of it.
"Mark Cavendish, Fabian Cancellara, Oscar Freire, those sorts of guys won't ride more than two weeks so that they can prepare for the Olympics."
BikeNZ high performance director Mark Elliott said yesterday: ''We could've run the permutations either way but it comes down to Greg having a fantastic season,'' Elliott said. ''We look at how this race is going to pan out, there are so many countries that have a desire for a bunch sprint finish. We see Greg at the forefront in that situation.''
3 News